The present invention relates to a transplanting machine for small plants.
More in particular, the present invention relates to a machine adapted to transplant vegetable, fruit and flower plants, having small dimensions, and to arrange them with constant spacing in parallel rows.
It is known that the crops of vegetables or fruit in which the plant is of the seasonal type, such as melons, tomatoes, aubergines, and peppers, are planted in prepared soil, which is either bare or covered by a plastic film arranging them at preset distances.
On bare soil, this operation, if performed manually without the aid of equipment, requires a long time and the use of a large number of workers, while if known transplanting machines are used it is in any case troublesome since the known machines carry operators who must make a hole in the soil, insert the plant and ridge the soil around it.
If the soil is prepared with a plastic film,to cover mulch for example, machines are known having a perforating element which cuts discs in the progressively applied film uncovering the underlying soil so that the operator can make a hole in that spot and insert the plant therein.
In this case, too, the operation is not easy for the operator, while the cutting of the disc from the film is also sometimes critical since the cut discs, if not removed, may remain and totally or partially obstruct the holes provided, and it also occurs that the discs, cut either mechanically or thermally, jam the cutting element, causing considerable problems and virtually blocking the machine until it is cleaned.
In the second case, that is to say, when the soil is prepared with a plastic film, there is also the considerable problem of the film cutting elements wear.